11 February 2014

Magpie

There is a family of three Magpies frequent the garden, though now it seems most often it will just be the juvenile spends most time here


another of the big plus' having the birds in your gardens - Magpie has found a Curl Grub; a win-win there for both of us.




 comical glance at me as I sat just outside the back door with my camera

 mostly preferring to drink from this very shallow dish, which was meant for the Superb Fairy Wrens.  

 and singing nicely

Birds in Backyards fact sheet is here; you can listen to the wonderful call of the Magpie (see mp3 player).  I'm really curious;  do Magpies in other parts of the world sound similar?

It is written there that an uncommon name for the Magpie, is the Flute-bird - and it is so apt really, though I'd never heard that reference before.





back for a drink later in the afternoon

Sharing with Nature Notes

36 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

another handsome b&w bird you have. :) the juvenile is cute.

Bob Bushell said...

Ha, what a nice bird, I love that time, feeding hour.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i enjoy the worm (or is that a bug?) shot. so neat. "action shot" i guess you would call it. ( :

Merlesworld said...

I do like the call of the magpie.
Merle........

Jeanne said...

I have never seen a magpie in texas, not sure if they come here or now. I have seen them in Colorado, but didn't pay attention to their call. will have to go listen and pay attention. Very good that he was eating that grub. Not fun to have in your garden.

Roy Norris said...

They are quite different to our Magpies Carole although the same black and white colours.
Are these just as noisy as ours.{:))

eileeninmd said...

Cool looking Magpies! A little different than the Magpie I see here in the states! Great shots!

Carole M. said...

Roy: the magpies aren't raucous like our Wattle birds but they're quite loud of course but to me, it is a melodic song. Did you listen to the mp3? to compare notes??

Gumer Paz said...

What pictures so beautiful Carole!
I really like!
a kiss :)

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

What an exotic sound. I love it. Great shots.

Montanagirl said...

What a dashing bird!

Jo's World said...

Wonderful comments and photos of the Magpie. A friend recently introduced me to the book Corvus, A Life with Birds by Esther Woolfson. She tells wonderful tales of Ravens, Crows and Magpies that anyone who loves these birds will appreciate.

Cheers,

Jo

Dianne said...

I love the sound of Magpies singing ... it's so very Australian. I wonder if they're to be found in other countries?

Irma said...

What a beautiful Magpie this is.
Here in the Netherlands they are so not.
Very well photographed Coraole, compliments.

Ramakrishnan said...

Nice pics of the magpie - looks like a big bird about the size of a crow or raven ?

Carole M. said...

Ramakrishnan - yes I would say similar size to those birds

Dianne: yes they are in various parts of Europe but differ from our Australian Magpie. It would be interesting to compare their calls

DeniseinVA said...

Great photos of your Magpie Carole. He is lovely!

Seraphinas Phantasie said...

Marvelous photos of this Magpie. Very close and clear.
Best regards Synnöve

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Your magpie in Australia is totally unrelated to corvid magpie in other parts of the world, Carole. I think it was called a magpie purely based on its familiar black-and-white plumage.

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a handsome bird, looks quite different to our magpie,

Anonymous said...

What a good bird eating the bad grubs! The young one is cute. "Our" magpie sounds more like a crow than a flute if I remember correctly (we used to see them in Eastern Washington, but never here, so I might not remember correctly.)

Carver said...

Fantastic shots of the magpie.

Ela said...

Great shot !

Karen said...

Great close-up shots! I love the one of him peeking around the branch!

DIMI said...

They are quite different to our Magpies Carole!Great photos!Wish you a nice day!
Dimi...

Jocee said...

Great shots. They are great singers & imitators. I think we share the same Magpies with you here in New Zealand.

Anonymous said...

Neat! I can't recall seeing a magpie before. Maybe in Hawaii?

Laura said...

Wonderful bird portraits! They do seem to be posing for you:>

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Carole Great shots of the Magpie. As Roy says, our Magpies are very noisy birds and I have never heard it 'sing'.

Jan Castle said...

Your model did a good job of posing!!!
Jan

Helma said...

Also this magpie looks very different than the Magpies in the Netherlands :-) Very nice series :-)

Wally Jones said...

Great post, Carole! We don't have Magpies in our part of the country, only in the western U.S.

I'd truly love to see them some day! In the meantime, I'll enjoy your wonderful photographs.

Brian King said...

Love the colors and big beak on these guys! Very handsome!

Liz said...

Lovely images Carole. I'm rather partial to Magpies and that juvenile is so lovely!

Ida said...

Great shots of these birds. They are very different looking from the Magpies we have here. That young one did look very comical.

Rambling Woods said...

It does sound like a flute... I understand that they are very intelligent too.... Great post for Nature Notes... Michelle